DIMETHACRYLATE RESINS MODIFIED WITH METHACRYLATE-FUNCTIONALIZED SILSESQUIOXANES.

ASMUSSEN S. V.; VALLO C.

Ciudad San José de Costa Rica

Congreso; XII SIMPOSIO LATINOAMERICANO DE POLÍMEROS X CONGRESO IBEROAMERICANO DE POLÍMEROS I CONGRESO NACIONAL DE POLÍMEROS I CONGRESO CENTROAMERICANO DE NANOTECNOCIENCIA I CONGRESO NACIONAL DE NANOTECNOCIENCIA; 2010

Laboratorio de Polímeros de la Universidad Nacional y del Laboratorio Nacional de Nanotecnología del CENAT de Costa Rica

Light-cured dental composites have shown relatively satisfactory clinical results. However, one major limitation of composite resins is their shrinkage during polymerization (1). This volumetric shrinkage contributes to the development of contraction stresses that often lead to bond failure and recurrent caries. In addition, the room-temperature polymerization of dental resins leads to glassy resins in which only part of the available monomer is reacted. If undesired high levels of leachable residual monomer are present, the biocompatibility of the dental composite can be compromised. Nanocomposite materials based on polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) are receiving increasing attention because of the unique features derived from their hybrid nanometer-scale architecture (2,3). POSS molecules consist of a Si-O-Si inorganic cage surrounded by an organic substituent which may be a fully condensed closed or open structure. The cubic silsesquioxane unit can be viewed as a nanoparticle for both its size and filler function or a well-defined macromonomer for its ability to undergo polymerization. The present study describes the synthesis of methacrylate -functionalized silsesquioxanes (SSQO) and the characterization of materials prepared from a dimethacrylate monomer modified with the synthesized SSQO.